We’re excited to share the cover for our final issue, Vol. 36.1, featuring Library of Babel, by Buzz Spector. This particular image is from Spector’s 2012 survey exhibit, “Buzz Spector: Off the Shelf,” curated by Betsy Stirratt at the Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University Bloomington. Library of Bable has been constructed on several occasions since 1988 when it was originally installed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Buzz isn’t just the artist behind this piece, he’s also our longtime art editor and a major part of december’s legacy. A celebrated conceptual artist, Buzz has spent decades exploring the book as both object and idea. He’s stacked, altered, and reimagined books in ways that make us rethink how we interact with language, memory, and the archive itself. For this reason alone we felt sharing his work on the final cover was not only appropriate, but necessary.

Library of Babel takes its name from the Borges story, but instead of an imagined, infinite library, Buzz gives us a physical one, towering stacks of books that invite awe and reflection. The piece reminds us how knowledge can feel vast, beautiful, overwhelming, and fragile all at once.

As we close this chapter of december, it felt right to feature Buzz’s work on the cover. It’s not just a powerful image, it’s a tribute to a longtime collaborator and to the literary worlds we’ve built together.

We hope it speaks to you, too.